Rat Saw God, the latest full-length from Asheville, North Carolina quintet Wednesday, stands as a uniquely vital nexus conjoining back-of-the-pickup-breezy country jams with pedal-pushing, primal scream-laden shoegaze. That said, the yarns vocalist/guitarist Karly Hartzman spins throughout the record are also united through near-death experiences.
Take how Chosen to Deserve alludes to teenage overdoses and pumped stomachs. Bath County similarly has someone breaking out Narcan in a parking lot. Then there’s Got Shocked, a true-to-life retelling of the time Hartzman – during a practice for Wednesday guitarist Jake “MJ” Lenderman’s solo project – became an unwilling conductor, owing to the half-assed wiring job in her and Lenderman’s bedroom/rehearsal space.
